Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Tour income extremes
One aspect of the Tour de France that spectators rarely consider is the income generated by the cyclists for their respective teams. From Eurosport, we hear about a Lanterne Rouge in a different sense:
But Eurosport and Sean Kelly mis-identified the team in the last spot. Domina Vacanze has earned 7,970 euros. According to Velonews it is Euskaltel-Euskadi, the orange-jersied team of Lanterne Rouge Iker Flores, which has earned the least amount of all the Tour de France teams. However, in terms of placement based on time gaps, after Stage 17 Euskaltel-Euskadi ranks 14th out of 21 teams."With 15 stages down (and six to go), the wealthiest team in the 2005 Tour de France is Discovery Channel, Lance Armstrong and his American armada amassing 52,330 euros in prize money.
At the bottom of the money-making pile: Italian squad Domina Vacanze, with a negligible 3,810 euros earned.
"Domina Vacanze will have to be careful they don't pick up too many penalties before the finish in Paris," said Eurosport co-commentator Sean Kelly.
"They could end up owing money back to the race.""
